In the final act of its meeting in Nottingham, England, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) endorsed a resolution criticizing President Robert Mugabe and the government-imposed chaos afflicting Zimbabwe. The resolution asked the Zimbabwe government to reverse its “policies of destruction” and called upon the African Union to “act to remedy the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe.”

The crisis in Zimbabwe over the eviction by police of hundreds of thousands of residents from shantytowns surrounding Harare and Bulawayo was raised early in the meeting, but did not come to the floor as a resolution until the final day of the council on June 28.

Before putting forward the resolution, the ACC consulted the Rt. Rev. Sebastian Bekare, Bishop of Manicaland and president of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches. ACC chairman Bishop John Paterson said it was important to contact the Zimbabwe Church to assess the political consequences of the proposed resolution.

Bishop Bekare has sought to mediate between the government and opposition leaders in Zimbabwe. However, the Bishop of Harare, the Rt. Rev. Nolbert Kunonga, is an ally of the regime.

President Mugabe rewarded Bishop Kunonga for his loyalty with a farm confiscated from a white farmer. The U.S. State Department has banned the American-educated bishop from entering the United States for his complicity in the Mugabe regime. Bishop Kunonga is to stand trial before an ecclesiastical court to be convened at Harare’s cathedral in mid-July to respond to charges ranging from fraud to incitement to murder.

In presenting the resolution to the delegates, the Rt. Rev. James Tengatenga, Bishop of Southern Malawi, said the ACC must act. “We cannot as a Church ignore the situation that is going on,” he said.

English delegate Elizabeth Paver concurred and read portions of a letter she received from a Church Army sister stationed in Bulawayo. “It is as if Bulawayo has been hit by a tsunami," Mrs. Paver recited from the letter. “Churches and church halls are full of families with nowhere to go.”

A South African bishop, the Rt. Rev. David Beetgo of the Highveld, reported that Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town would be leading a pastoral mission to Harare next month, with the “hope it will lead to some form of mediation.”

At one point in the debate, the resolution wandered off track as delegates raised the subject of white settlers farming land in Africa. The Rt. Rev. Samson Mwaluda of Kenya said the specter of colonialism haunted Zimbabwe. He said that in his own diocese, ownership of land was a contentious issue. The government held some 60 percent of the land as game parks, white farmers held 20 percent of the land, while the people lived off the rest.

In response to Bishop Mwaluda’s concerns, the ACC added a preamble to the resolution acknowledging, “the social and historical imbalances that the people of Zimbabwe have experienced in the tenure of their land.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury asked the delegates to add an amendment encouraging the Church of England to take this concern to Prime Minister Blair.

The resolution was adopted in the final session of the council on a unanimous vote.

(The Rev.) George Conger has been in Nottingham, England, reporting for The Living Church from the triennial meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council.

Complete Coverage From the ACC Triennial:

· Ecumenical Visitors Bring Greetings, Suggestions

· ACC Briefed on Lambeth 2008

· Communion is Found Among Those Who Doubt and Hunger

· Size and Composition of ACC Committees Will Change

· Primates Included as Ex Officio ACC Members

· ACC Opts for Compromise on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

· ACC Lauds Church’s Ethical Investment Program

· Council Somber After Vote to Exclude North Americans

· ACC Suspends North American Churches

· Vote on Resolution to Expel North Americans Scheduled

· Communion's Spotlight is on Presentation Panels

· Archbishop Says Common Ground Still Exists

· Status Quo at ACC Holds on Second Day

· Withdrawn Status of North Americans Noted

· ACC Opening Session Surprise

· ACC Meeting Opens with Dinner and Orientation

· Bishop Roskam to Serve in Two Capacities at Nottingham

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